Galactic Gazetteer
Life in the Galaxy : Planets of the Galaxy : Travel in the Galaxy The Star Wars universe is populated with a wide variety of species hailing from thousands of worlds. Each of these worlds has its own unique qualities and cultures. Since fantastic locales are a big part of what makes Star Wars exciting and fun, it is important to know a little bit about the established worlds in order to base adventures there. Life in the Galaxy Because the galaxy has had some form of interrelated society for more than twenty thousand years (be it Old Republic, Empire, or New Republic), most everyone is used to a mix of species and cultures. There are some beings who are prejudiced against one or another species and this is especially noticeable during the Empire&rquo;s control of the galaxy), but most others appreciate the diversity the galactic society has to offer. From planetary spaceports to orbiting space stations, it isn&rquo;t unusual for Humans and Twi’leks and Mon Calamari to work side by side or otherwise interact. They don&rquo;t always get along, but that could be said about any individuals in any species. This diversity has led to a spread of ideas, philosophies, sciences, and cultures, Markets throughout the galaxy feature a wide assortment of exotic goods from a variety of worlds. Again, such opportunities for species and cultures to mingle aren&rquo;t unusual—they&rquo;re just part of everyday life. Finally, a galactic society requires open communications to flourish. The Old Republic developed the HoloNet to handle this. A near-instantaneous communications network, it provides a free flow of holograms and other forms of communications among member worlds. Using hundreds of thousands of non-mass transceivers connected through hyperspace simutunnels and routed through massive computer sorters and decoders, the HoloNet allows news and communications to flow from one world to another in almost real time. During the time of the Empire, large portions of the HoloNet system were shut down, and the remaining portions were mostly restricted to government and military use. This reduction of the system cut off rebellious worlds and kept news of the Empire&rquo;s actions from spreading too quickly In addition, datacards and other forms of news and information are carried from place to place by starships. This means that even without the HoloNet in many cases information is only a hyperspace trip away. Planets of the Galaxy Travel in the Galaxy All the worlds in the galaxy mean nothing to a character if they are unreachable. Fortunately, hyperspace travel has become common, affordable, and Tusually) safe. Astrogation Moving from a given location to a desired destination through hyperspace requires a successful Use Computer check. Because every object in the galaxy is constantly in motion, the precise path between two locations changes from day to day. If the astrogator uses current data (one day old at most), he can plot a safe course. Doing so takes 1 minute and requires a successful DC 10 Use Computer check. If an astrogator has no data with which to plot a jump through hyperspace, the base DC for the Use Computer check is 30, and the astrogator must spend 1 hour calculating coordinates and vectors before attempting the check. As a general rule, data for a particular route through hyperspace is available to anyone with access to the HoloNet—although that data might be outdated if the route in question is not frequently traveled by other ships. Certain situations or circumstances can also modify the check, as shown in Table: Astrogation DC Modifiers. The lack of a nav computer (or, failing that, an astromech droid with stored coordinates) makes the task much more difficult. If time is of the essence, the astrogator can perform the check as a full-round action round by taking a −10 penalty on his Use Computer check If the Use Computer check is successful, the starship enters hyperspace without incident and arrives at its destination in a number of days equal to 1d6 x the ship&rquo;s hyperdrive multiplier. A failed Use Computer check indicates that the astrogator has made a potentially dangerous error in his calculations. Make another Use Computer Check using the same modifiers and against the same DC. If this second Use Computer check is successful, the error is caught before entering hyperspace, and the process of plotting a course must begin anew. If this second Use Computer check fails, the starship moves −1 persistent step on the condition track and takes damage equal to 5% of its total hit points for every point by which the check fails. (The persistent condition and damage remain until the ship undergoes maintenance.) If the ship is not disabled or destroyed, it arrives at the intended destination in double the expected travel time. If the ship is disabled, it drops out of hyperspace in a random location somewhere between the point of origin and the destination (the exact location is determined by the GM). : Life in the Galaxy : Planets in the Galaxy : Travel in the Galaxy __NOEDITSECTION__ Category:Gameplay Category:Encyclopedia Galactica Category:Core Rules